


Fostering, Friends, Family, and Feelings

by Arytra



Series: Section 123 [3]
Category: Sesame Street (TV)
Genre: Everyone is the best, Fluff, Gordon and Susan and Bob are fantastic siblings and friends, Honkers are adorable, It's slow going, Learning how to Family, More Fluff, Mr. Hooper is best dad, Multi, Penelope is also learning friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 09:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16037393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra
Summary: Mr. Hooper knows absolutely everything.  It's just a known fact.  However, knowing everything and applying everything are two different things.Penelope is terrible with those emotion things and this whole friendship idea.  It's just easier to stay professional and aloof.And they're both about to learn a very important lesson that will benefit them both in learning how to adjust to their changed environments.





	Fostering, Friends, Family, and Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I firmly say that honkers are in triads. They have three parents. Yay for honkers! Releasing the Insanity agrees with me.
> 
> Second, knowing everything and experience are two different things. So, I feel this applies to Mr. Hooper this early on where he's trying to adjust even if he hides it well from most of the other protectors.
> 
> Third, this story takes place right in the middle of Sesame Street and You: Protecting Family, Learning Affection. Pretty quickly after they make the cake, though that isn't really mentioned here.

Mr. Hooper had not intended to have children. He'd never married. He hadn't considered adoption. He had enough to do with watching Sesame Street, thank you very much. He had been perfectly content to run things, make certain that people were safe, and run his store. When the government had finally figured out what was going on, he'd dealt with the two agents who had dealt with the issue. He'd considered the matter closed. But then Big Bird had needed new guardians and he'd stepped up to the plate with Willy and Mac without a second thought to make sure the baby bird had it. Then he'd suddenly he had a tenant who was talkative and cheerful, wanting to talk to him about everything and getting into all of the trouble possible. With said tenant came a young couple who were equally cheerful, if differently so, and just as eager to make friends. While the young woman tried to be good regardless of what the two men dragged her into, her companion seemed perfectly happy to follow their friend's ideas. And suddenly Mr. Hooper's clean cut, no hassle world became extremely hassled. 

He found himself trying to corral the three constantly as they seemed equally determined to see what they could get away with, other than Susan of course who was as he mentioned reluctant. He'd thought that would be the end of it, but with new Protectors in the form of Susan, Gordon, Bob, Ernie, and Bert, there was also another visit from the agent from before. And had his newfound charges left well enough alone? Of course they hadn't. They had become determined to keep her, so to speak. And the next thing he knew, he was trying to make sure this one didn't die as well when she tried to overdo it, including tricking her into staying on the Street for one night so that she wouldn't crash her car on the way home.

So now he had all five of them and little knowledge of parenting at all. Mac teased that he was a natural at it. Mr. Hooper felt he needed better friends with better information than “You didn't break them so that's good” at raising kids. Fortunately, the Magic was helping him to the best of it's ability having taken care of many a parent and child, but knowledge wasn't practice. Fortunately, it seemed like everything was quiet for the moment and they could perhaps ease into this parenting excursion more easily.

***

Penelope rushed down the street, trying to avoid Hooper's store while simultaneously attempting to find the specific resident that she was looking for. She caught sight of him reading a paper outside of 123, fortunately alone. She shifted the blanket in her arms carefully and made her way over to him.

“Bob?” She asked, not pausing as he finished the sentence he was on and looked up. “Two questions. One, do you know anything about Honker eggs? Two, this may be connected but, it's probably fine for me to cause trouble for Sesame Street if it involves rescuing a Honker egg, right?”

Bob immediately set down what he was doing and looked up at her. “Where did you get a Honker egg?” He asked.

“Umm... from one of the other sections,” she said. “I grabbed it when they weren't looking. And then I got out of the building. And then I realized I have no idea how Honkers work.”

“Why didn't you go to Susan? She's a nurse,” he reminded her. This was why she'd run to him. Not because he knew everything about this, but because he also wasn't likely to judge her for any of this or for not knowing. Besides, Bob was constantly calling animals to him so he had to understand suddenly dealing with an unexpected living thing.

“I wanted support before I told anyone else,” she said almost shyly.

“We're not going to be mad at you for rescuing it. Look, the four of us will take care of it for now,” he assured her, already dragging in both Gordon and Susan. “But I don't know how to take care of it so we better find Susan.”

She followed, still carrying it to the best of her ability though it was a bit awkward. She just motioned for Bob to go ahead of her so that they could get Susan on board as soon as possible. They could tell Gordon when they saw him, but right now they had an egg to care for that had no parents that they knew of. She got in a little after Bob who was dealing with an exasperated Susan. “Why didn't you ask a Honker?” She asked him.

“I didn't think about it,” he answered, only sounding a little sheepish. “And what if it's sick?”

Susan looked over to see Penelope standing in the doorway. “Come in,” she said a bit more gently. “We'll look it over and Bob can go find a Honker to ask.”

Bob didn't protest but ran off to find help. Penelope helped steady the egg for Susan, biting her lip. What if she hadn't gotten there in time? That would be an even more fun conversation with Mr. Hooper if he found out: 'I may have brought in a lot of trouble and I wasn't even able to save it.' Gordon watched Bob run by before heading into his apartment. Before he could ask about Bob, his attention fell to something else. “Why is there an egg on the table?” He asked.

“Because Penelope found a Honker egg,” Susan answered, listening into the egg. “Well, something is moving in there.”

“Is that good?” Penelope asked. Gordon walked over and put his hand on her shoulder, not wanting to distract his wife while she was working.

“Susan needs to concentrate,” he said softly. He gently pulled her to the couch to give Susan some room before heading into the role of a science teacher. “Where did you find the egg? Maybe we can get it back to its parents.”

“That's the problem,” she whispered. “I less found the egg and more stole the egg from my workplace.”

“Where did they get it?” He asked.

“I don't know. I didn't ask,” she answered. “If I had asked, they might have caught on that I was stealing government property.”

Gordon's eyes widened. “Does Mr. Hooper know?”

“That I stole an egg from my work and then ran straight to the first place they'd look which he's in charge of because I didn't know what else to do thus possibly putting the entire Street in trouble?” She asked. “No, I haven't told him. Do you think he'll notice?”

“You brought a Honker egg here,” Gordon said, holding his head in one hand and speaking carefully. “Through the force field. I think he might guess.”

“Do you think he'll notice right away?” Penelope tried again. Gordon sighed.

“He's not going to be mad at you for rescuing an egg,” he told her her. “You did the right thing and this is exactly why we have the force field: To have a safe place for everyone including baby honkers.”

“I'll tell him after we find out if it's going to be okay,” she said.

“You know he already knows and is just waiting for you to tell him, right?” He asked.

“Then it won't be a huge inconvenience if I wait a a little longer,” she answered. Before he could answer her, Bob returned with one of the Honkers who was more than willing to give them advice for the moment. They caught on that Honker eggs needed the warmth a parent sitting on it would normally give, but also the feel of parents. While this normally involved them just being around, he suggested that they keep in physical contact with it. He also informed them that he'd check around and try to find a childless triad, but it could take some time. They assured him that they had it handled, he assured them that he was sure they did, and he honked a good-bye while the four of them stood there. Gordon quickly took charge.

“I'll get a large incubator from the school,” he said. “Susan, go get the reading lamp for now. Penelope did the right thing by trying to keep it warm, but it's going to need more than that now. Penelope, I want you to keep it warm and close to you right now, okay? Bob? Go get us some food and let Mr. Hooper know we need to talk to him. Just... don't tell him why yet.”

“Or you could let me know now,” The man in question asked as he came through the door. “What's going on?”

“Nothing,” all four of them said in unison. Penelope was certain that if he hadn't been suspicious before, he certainly was now. The look he was giving them proved that thought correct. Penelope stepped forward.

“I found a honker egg,” she said. She was really, really hoping Gordon was right.

“Put it back with its parents,” he said calmly. Penelope continued.

“We can't,” she said. “Because when I say found, I meant stole. And when I mean stole, I mean from my work where there were no honker parents.”

Mr. Hooper looked at the other three. “I think you three had something you were going to be doing? Susan, since you got that reading light, why don't you go help Gordon with that incubator?”

Susan shot Penelope a sympathetic look. “Of course, Mr. Hooper.”

They headed out as Penelope moved the lamp slightly to make it easier to keep it in her lap, her skirt acting as a good nest. She waited. “If you are worried something is going to be trouble for the street, you come to me first,” he said sternly. “You do not run to your friends and try to hide it from me.”

“I didn't mean to come here. I didn't even realize I was doing it until I was here,” she rambled.

“I'm not angry that you brought it here,” he said. “I'm angry that you tried to hide it and you convinced the others to help you. You said you wanted to work with me to guard Sesame Street, but how are we supposed to do that if you didn't come to me when you knew that there was a problem?”

“We can't,” she answered, trying to stop herself from balling up to make herself smaller.

“No, we can't,” he said.

“Can I stay here until the honker is born?” She asked, trying to keep from begging.

“You're going to be staying until we find honkers to take it in,” he answered. She looked up at him in surprise. “You made a mistake. You're staying here to clean it up. I'm trusting that next time you'll come to me when you cause trouble.”

“Next time?” She asked.

“What else are you expecting?” He asked her gruffly. “I've had to speak with Bob twice this week about his ideas and Gordon once because he was teaching the other time I had to talk with Bob or he would have been involved in that one too. Speaking of which, don't tell me that you won't cause trouble again. I've heard that one enough times to recognize it for hogwash it is. Did you get the egg before they did anything to it?”

“Yes, Mr. Hooper,” she said.

“And you don't know where it's from?” He continued.

“No, Mr. Hooper,” she answered.

“Well then,” he said. “Do you think it's a boy or a girl?”

“I... Mr. Hooper?” She asked in surprise.

“You have to have some guess. Here. I'll say it's a girl,” he said.

“It's going to be a boy,” she disagreed. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“And your expansive knowledge of honkers tells you this?” He asked.

“Mother's instinct,” she answered.

“Penelope Carson, you are not that egg's mother,” Mr. Hooper informed her. “Baby Honkers need a triad.”

“I can convince Bob. That's one,” she said firmly. At his look she sighed. “I won't try to keep the baby honker.”

“Okay, but what if we can't find parents for it?” Bob asked, setting down a small mountain of food and handing Mr. Hooper some money.

“Him,” Penelope said primly. Bob looked at Mr. Hooper curiously.

“Penelope has decided it's a boy after I suggested it might be a girl,” he answered. Bob shrugged.

“So, what if we can't find his parents,” Bob asked.

“As I reminded Penelope, baby honker's need a triad of honkers to take care of them,” he said.

“Okay, so that's Penelope and me so far and Gordon and Susan can probably count as one person, right?” He asked. “So, triad.”

“That is not how numbers work, Bob,” Mr. Hooper scolded. “Also, do not just decide your friends are going to help you without asking.”

“Help him what?” Susan asked.

“Where's the incubator?” Penelope asked.

“We got halfway off the street and realized we can't really touch the egg with it,” Gordon answered and grinned at her, motioning to her makeshift nest. “Besides, that looks like it's working. So, what are we helping with?”

“Penelope and I with raising the baby honker if we can't find his parents,” Bob answered.

“His?” Gordon asked.

“Bob...” Susan continued. Bob chose to answer Gordon.

“Penelope decided it's a boy,” he answered.

“That's not how science works,” Gordon answered. Bob looked at him.

“Then is it a boy or a girl?” He asked. “You're the science teacher.”

“I've never dealt with honker eggs,” he answered. “Heat can affect some reptiles and birds but I don't know if it does the same for honkers.”

“So you don't know?” Penelope asked. Gordon shook his head. “Then it's a boy.”

“I thought honkers need triads,” Gordon said changing the subject.

“They do,” Bob said. “I figured that you and Susan could count as one.”

“That's not how math works!” Gordon protested.

“We can't just raise a honker,” Susan said firmly. “We don't even know what we're doing?”

“Then we'll ask questions,” Bob said.

“Ask questions?” Penelope asked with a slight smile.

“It's a good way of finding things out,” he answered.

“Of course,” Penelope answered deadpan. “We should probably at least name him.”

Mr. Hooper cleared his throat and all four of them looked at him. “First, you don't know it's a boy. Second, the four of you are just going to argue about names for twenty minutes. Third, you cannot keep this honker and naming it is going to make you attached.”

“Penelope is clutching the egg to her,” Gordon said. “I think the 'getting attached' has already happened. My turn, Penelope.”

Penelope looked a little uneasy about it, but moved to let Gordon take over. Bob looked at Mr. Hooper. “See? We're great at being a triad.”

“There are still four people,” Mr. Hooper informed him before looking at Penelope. She was trying hard not to show that Gordon was probably right. “Honkers live on Sesame Street. It's not like you won't see this one.”

Susan headed over to her and handed her one of the bars of chocolate that Bob had grabbed, breaking it in half to share. Penelope smiled back at her. Bob grabbed one of them for himself and sat down next to Penelope. “We would have been great honker parents,” he told her. “We could have named him Handel.”

Mr. Hooper glared at Bob, but before he could reprimand him, Penelope answered first. “Like a door?” She asked. Bob looked horrified.

“After the composer, George Handel,” he answered.

“Still sounds like a door,” Penelope said.

“Hubble,” Gordon suggested. They looked at him. “What?”

“Hubble?” Penelope asked.

“What's wrong with Hubble?” He asked. Before Penelope could lay down a litany of what was wrong there, Susan spoke up.

“Harvey,” she answered, heading over toward Gordon. Susan headed over and curled up with Gordon, as they worked together to make a nest between them. Bob motioned in their direction. Susan gave him a look not to give the same argument to them being one person. “Well, I would have gone with Harriet, but Penelope insists it's a boy.”

“I still say Hubble,” Gordon said.

“No, Gordon,” Susan answered. Bob opened his mouth. “Penelope is right, Bob, it sounds like handle.”

“Then Harvey is out too,” Bob said. “It's only fair!”

“Fine!” Susan spat back. “But that doesn't solve what we should call it.”

“Him,” Bob and Penelope insisted together.

“Well, what do you think, Penelope?” Susan asked. “You're the only one who hasn't tried yet.”

“I was thinking Hudson,” she answered. “Like the river. Water is kind of music-like, right Bob? And it's part of science, Gordon. I don't have anything to convince you with, Susan.”

“You already did,” Susan assured her. Penelope looked at her in slight confusion. “You tried to include everyone.”

“Why do you want it though?” Gordon asked. She shrugged.

“We live in New York,” she answered. “The Hudson is connected, right? So, it makes sense for a group of beings that live like honkers do. And it's an H name.”

She looked a little uncomfortable and Mr. Hooper spoke up. “There. You named it. Even if Bob and Gordon don't agree, it's still 2 to 1 to 1.”

“Him,” Bob corrected. “And I like Hudson.”

“Same here,” Gordon agreed.

“Now, you four are adults. Explain to me why I'm having the same trouble I'd have telling Big Bird he couldn't keep the honker with you lot who are supposedly rational adults?” Mr. Hooper demanded.

Bob shrugged. “We haven't seen a better option yet,” he answered, glancing at Gordon who got up to trade with Bob, complete with eating the rest of Bob's chocolate to the other man's annoyance. Mr. Hooper sighed.

“There will be one,” he told them. “And you will have to deal with Hudson living with them. I don't want to hear any of you complaining after I warned you not to name it.”

“Him,” Penelope and Bob said and Susan even gave a firm nod this time. Penelope had the feeling she would have already won over Gordon if he wasn't being so stubborn with the science of it. Considering that Mr. Hooper had continued to use it, she was pretty sure that he didn't know what the baby was either so her opinion on the matter was valid.

“We'll have hatched him,” Susan said quietly. “And Penelope rescued him. We're going to be a little attached, Mr. Hooper.”

“It's not the little part that I'm worried about,” he said. “It's the four of you moping around.”

“We're not going to...” Penelope started to argue when Bob jumped. “You're going to break him”

“I'm not going to break him,” Bob said. “I think the egg moved.”

Mr. Hooper took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes as the other three rushed over to where Bob was sitting and Penelope tried to ignore the fact that they'd absolutely just given up any sense of being mature and reasonable adults in the conversation by doing so. The other three shared a look and then put the egg back in Penelope's lap.

“It's Bob's turn,” she reminded them. Bob grinned at her.

“You found him,” he answered. The top broke open not too long after and they saw the tiny horns and the purple fur. And then the yellow nose that made the honkers be honkers. For a moment, even Mr. Hooper softened his look.

“I think Penelope was right,” he said quietly. “He's a boy.”

Penelope nodded. She was more concerned with the fact that he had hatched and he was alive. When she had grabbed the egg, she had been focused on just getting things done and she hadn't wanted to get her hopes up. And now, there was a baby honker in her lap, looking at all of them. “Hi there,” she said softly. 

She reached over and pushed his nose, making the honk noise before looking at Bob, Susan, and Gordon. Bob was already almost uncomfortably close anyway which she was going to ignore right now because she had the baby in her lap. “Hey Hudson,” Bob said.

The honker looked at them curiously and Gordon looked at him. “Hud-son,” he said, imitating honking his own nose. The baby honker mimicked him back, looking pleased at the noise he was making.

“Teach him to say Bob!” Bob said happily. Before they could continue, Mr. Hooper looked at all four of them sternly.

“You can teach him to say names,” he said. “But no 'mamas' or 'papas' or anything like that in front of him. Understood?”

“Yes, Mr. Hooper,” they all said. Hudson just honked, not really knowing what was going on, but wanting to be part of the conversation too.

“I need to get back to work,” he said. “We will be finding a triad of honkers. I mean it. I don't want to hear any whining later. Or songs. Or songs sang sadly about moping.”

“I feel like you're directing your comments at me,” Bob said. “Penelope found him.”

“Penelope isn't going to sing outside my store for five hours on end,” Mr. Hooper said dryly. “But that does go for all of you. Don't get attached.”

With that, he turned to leave and the other turned back to Hudson. Penelope looked at each of them in turn and then nodded. “We should teach him Bob first. Then Susan. Then Gordon. Then Penelope.”

“Why that order?” Susan asked.

“Easiness,” Penelope answered. “Bob is one syllable. Susan has two, but they're really similar. Gordon has two but they're different. And, well, my name is less easy.”

Gordon squeezed her shoulders. She wasn't sure when they'd swarmed her, but they had. “We'll make sure he learns it,” he assured her. “But going easiest to hardest is best.”

“Let's get started!” Bob said. “Come on, Hudson! Honk Bob! Bob. You can do it.”

Penelope rolled her eyes and Gordon patted her shoulder in understanding. Susan gave them both a look. “None of us have a better plan,” she said, defending Bob.

Penelope had the feeling that this was going to take the rest of the afternoon.

***

Mr. Hooper headed back to his store after his final warning to those kids. Willy saw him and joined him which he didn't stop him from doing. “Is Bob causing trouble?” He asked, knowing which caused the most issues for him.

“All of them,” he grumbled. “Penelope found a honker egg. At work.”

“How come we haven't gotten to see it yet?” Mr. Macintosh asked as he joined on the other side.

“Because they were busy hatching it and I've been busy trying to tell them that they can't keep it,” Mr. Hooper answered. “And because you two will just encourage them.”

“Penelope brought the egg home,” Mr. Macintosh said.

“Mac...” Mr. Hooper warned, glancing at Willy but the other man also seemed to see where this was going and was perfectly happy to stay quiet. Mr. Macintosh continued.

“And the others decided to help her raise it,” he continued. “And you're worried they're going to get attached? Sounds familiar, huh, Willy?”

“I'd say so,” Willy agreed, being no help whatsoever.

“I did not bring any of them here,” Mr. Hooper argued. “But since three of them decided to live here and the last is here constantly, they're my responsibility.”

Willy just smiled. “That would just mean that you make sure that they don't cause trouble,” he answered. “It doesn't mean that you scold them, support them, and try to keep them alive.”

“I know we warned you,” Mr. Macintosh said gleefully. “'If you feed them, you're going to want to keep them', we said. And the next thing we knew, you were scolding Bob and Gordon on Bob's idea going wrong, listening to Susan explain that she tries to handle it, and that was that. You had three new children.”

“They are adults,” he muttered, though he didn't protest it either.

“And when they decided to keep Penelope, what did you say?” Mr. Macintosh continued. Mr. Hooper shot Willy a look that half-pleaded with his oldest friend to shut Mac up. Willy looked perfectly content to let this go. “How did he put it, Willy?”

“Something about her not being here often so they shouldn't get attached,” he said. “And that we needed to keep an eye on her anyway because she's probably just going to cause trouble. I hope you're happy on that one. I was betting you'd hold out a couple more months. Mac just about called the timing for you to adopt her.”

“He was holding off when she came and half-begged him to let her keep her job here. We completely lost him by the time he took her home,” Mac answered, touching Willy's arm. “If she hadn't decided to fall asleep in his store, you might have won.”

“The point is,” Mr. Hooper said, trying to bring them back to the point of his story and away from them being extremely unhelpful with their commentary. “They hatched a honker. They have all agreed that it's important to find a good honker triad.”

“Then what's the problem?” Willy asked.

“Just because they know it's the right thing to do, doesn't mean it's not going to bother them,” he answered gruffly. Mac and Willy shared a grin to each other that Mr. Hooper didn't miss, no matter how much they thought he would. And they wondered why he hadn't let them in on this plan that the kids had come up with. 

“That's what they have us for,” Willy assured him. Mac nodded.

“We'll cheer them up,” he agreed. Before Mr. Hooper could counter with a properly snarky response, he felt the force field react slightly and just for a second. He glanced at his two friends.

“I'll take care of it,” he said. The other two nodded, quietly heading in the direction of the other side of the street to check on it for safety reasons. He made his way to the edge of the street and saw a man standing right on the other side. Once he saw Mr. Hooper, his hand came back down and the man calmly put his hands loosely behind his back as if he had merely knocked on the door.

“Mr. Hooper, I presume?” The man asked. Mr. Hooper nodded. “Excellent. I'm Agent Garter.”

“You work with Agent Carson,” Mr. Hooper said.

“Rather she works for me,” he answered. Mr. Hooper nodded, keeping his face neutral. This man wasn't going to get on the street. Mr. Hooper knew it and the man knew it. That said, this did involve Penelope's job and the young woman was attached to it.

“Why are you here, Agent Garter?” Mr. Hooper asked instead, getting down to business.

“It seems something went missing in my facility,” he answered. “So, I'm visiting the various places it could have gone to. I hate to think of any of my agents being involved, but I'm afraid it's a necessity.”

“You'll have to be more specific,” Mr. Hooper said, knowing full well what the man wanted.

“An egg,” he said. “A couple of agents found it on patrol and were supposed to study it when it went missing.”

“Haven't seen it,” he said calmly. For all the Agent Garter was remaining calm, Mr. Hooper knew that the man probably knew. Penelope was worried about this causing trouble for the street but Mr. Hooper could handle that. He was worried that she'd go with the other man and that would make it much harder to protect her.

“It's possible that you just didn't know you saw it,” Agent Garter pressed. “This egg was rather large.”

“Then I think I would have seen it earlier,” he answered. He moved to answer further when he was interrupted.

“Mr. Hooper!” It took everything that Mr. Hooper has in him not to flinch at Penelope's voice. Of all the times for her to look for him, this was not the best time. Worse, he could hear the excitement in her voice that she usually tried to hide. He moved to intercept her, to get her back to Gordon and Susan before Agent Garter could see what she had.

“Don't,” Agent Garter said. “I should speak with my agent.”

Penelope turned the corner. “It took a little work,” she said enthusiastically. “Okay, Hudson. Show Mr. Hooper.”

The honker in her arms touched its nose as Mr. Hooper recognized the honker version of his name. He looked at her. “He's a quick learner.”

“He is!” She answered. “Bob is trying to get him to honk his ABCs and to count, but Susan and I still think he's a little young...”

“Agent Carson,” Agent Garter said calmly. Penelope's eyes shot up to look at him before glancing at Mr. Hooper. He did his best to look apologetic and reassuring but he didn't know how much trouble she was in either. He did know that he was not going to let this man take her without knowing though.

“Sir,” she said, managing to stand taller. If she hadn't had Hudson in her arms, she likely would have been fussing over her appearance as well. “I didn't know to expect you today.”

“It seems that an egg went missing in the facility,” he informed her. Mr. Hooper waited as did Penelope. He gave Agent Garter a look that would inform the other man that Penelope was a member of this community now as well and thus partially his responsibility. “If I were to look for the egg there, would I find it?”

“I can honestly say you would not, Sir,” she answered. All three of them knew the truth.

“Very well, Agent. I'd like to continue speaking with Mr. Hooper,” he informed her. “Dismissed.”

Penelope snapped to attention before heading off, still not completely comfortable with how it had turned out nor for leaving the two together. Mr. Hooper waited until she was gone before looking back at Agent Garter. “She's a good intermediary,” he said. “And she fits in well. We like having her here.”

“She's a good kid,” Agent Garter said quietly. “Loyal to a fault and I mean to a fault. When I challenged your authority here, she fought back. So, I had to reprimand her.”

“I reprimand,” Mr. Hooper informed him. “You ripped away her career.”

“It was a matter of time with that one,” he answered. “It's what was best for her. We'll wait until she calms down a bit and then give her some agents to work with. But honestly, I have a new Department to run and I need all of my agents at full cylinders. I don't have time to baby-sit them because they get too attached to things. Keeping her here gives me the added bonus of having some one else keep an eye on her and, attached or not, I trust she'll do her job and do it well.”

Mr. Hooper's glare intensified. Agent Garter looked away, hands still behind his back. There was silence between the two men for a bit. “And if you hadn't 'reprimanded' her?”

“Then she would have been fired,” he answered calmly. He stood up, still facing Mr. Hooper. “I will report that I was unable to find the egg upon your Street. There will be no more trouble from it. Good day, Mr. Hooper. Please inform Agent Carson I expect to see her in her office in the morning.”

Mr. Hooper nodded once as the man turned and walked away. He did the same, going to find Penelope.

***

Penelope was really hoping that breathing was an optional activity because she wasn't sure if she was doing it right. Hudson honked and she looked down at him, pausing in her steps. “Sorry,” she said gently. Hudson honked at her again and looked expectantly.

“He wants you to praise him,” Mr. Hooper's voice came from behind her. She whirled around and looked at him. He motioned toward the baby honker. “Big Bird did the same thing when he was little. If you taught him anything, he'd try to repeat it until you told him how good he was doing.”

She smiled a bit at that and noticed that Hudson seemed more relaxed. “Good job,” she said to the honker before turning her attention to Mr. Hooper even if she couldn't look him in the eye at the moment. “How much trouble do you think I'm in?”

She was trying to keep her voice steady but there was a part of her that was honestly worried about it. He didn't look ready to throw her out, but she didn't feel steady either and that wasn't considering the trouble she was in with Agent Garter. “He said he couldn't find it here and he expects you to be at work tomorrow.”

She looked at him. “He has to know,” she said, focusing on that for the moment. Mr. Hooper nodded.

“He does,” he said. “But he's ignoring it. It makes sense.”

“How?” She asked skeptically.

“You took the egg before they knew what it was. He was able to see that we did know what it was. While they didn't find the egg on Sesame Street, he can't know if the honkers were originally from here,” he answered. “It's easier to let it go than to keep arguing about it.”

“Oh,” she answered softly. “How much trouble am I in with you over this?”

Mr. Hooper motioned for her to sit down which she did, not bothering to try to challenge him at the moment. She had brought all of this here and she deserved what she got.

“Earlier, when I was telling you to come to me first,” he started, ignoring the slight embarrassment she showed from that reprimand. “I should have also told you that you did the right thing.”

“What?” She asked, feeling completely confused by this point. She had stolen property from her place of employment which happened to be part of the United States Government and brought it there. She was the reason that they'd had their lives interrupted to do. She was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing.

“Sometimes,” he said. “Doing the right thing means causing trouble and breaking the rules. You did that when you took the egg and brought it somewhere you thought could help. And while next time you need to come to me in this kind of situation, you actively asked for help when you got in over your head. As I said, the right thing.”

“But I also caused them to come here,” she said. He paused for a minute before he continued.

“We can handle it. You don't live here, but that doesn't mean that the Street isn't always open to you,” he answered. “Your boss came here looking for the egg, the honker hatched, and you're still here. What does that tell you?”

“You aren't going to make me leave this time?” She asked. He rolled his eyes.

“It means stop walking on eggshells and calm down,” he answered. “Gordon, Susan, and Bob would complain if I asked you to leave anyway.”

She gave him a small smile for that. “What if Agent Garter had told me to go back with him?”

“Do you want to leave right now?” Mr. Hooper asked. She shook her head. “Then you wouldn't have gone. He could wait until later. Understood?”

“Yes, Mr. Hooper,” she answered. Before she could say anything else, they heard the other three coming and Penelope was back on her feet. Gordon reached her first, arms folded and trying to look annoyed but he wasn't able to hide the mirth in his eyes.

“When you said you wanted to show Mr. Hooper, we figured you'd head over, show him, and then come back. If we're going to be a triad, you need to learn how to share,” he scolded.

“I got a little side tracked,” she said, glancing at Mr. Hooper who gave her a slight nod. The others didn't need to know about any of this and he considered the matter closed. “Whose turn is it?”

“Susan and Gordon's,” Bob said easily. “Then mine again. We are a fantastic triad.”

“How is it that you can teach music but you don't know how numbers work?” Mr. Hooper gruffed. “One, two, three, four people, Bob. Susan and Gordon are not one person.”

“Oh what's it matter?” Susan asked, taking Hudson happily. “Three, four, what matters is we're here for him.”

Penelope glanced in Mr. Hooper's direction, as did Bob, but the man didn't have anything to say about it. Penelope noted that they should have started out with that argument in the first place. Unlike Penelope's clumsy attempts, Susan seemed downright natural at holding Hudson. She remembered what Mr. Hooper had mentioned about the 'right thing' involving asking for help and figured now was a good time to try to implement that since it wasn't something that they would probably judge her on. “Susan? When you're holding him, it looks different than when I'm holding him. I was thinking that you could show me how to fix that.”

Gordon snorted. “You just want to hold him again.”

“Let her,” Bob hissed. Susan ignored both of them and headed over to Penelope.

“Here, hold out your arms,” she said gently, walking her through it. Penelope listened and imitated her friend. When she finished showing her, Penelope felt a little more comfortable anyway, as if she wasn't going to drop Hudson. Susan beamed at her as Susan took the honker back. “Maybe you can show me how to do something later.”

“I don't think Mr. Hooper is going to be happy with her teaching you to shoot or something on Sesame Street,” Gordon teased. Penelope glared at him.

“I know things! Non-agent things,” she said. Mr. Hooper looked over his glasses.

“Cooking isn't one of them,” he said dryly. She glared at him too. Susan was her favorite right now.

“I've seen you draw with Big Bird,” Bob mentioned, solidifying Susan as her favorite right now. “I don't think that's a skill either.”

“Big Bird was a lot nicer about it than you are,” she harrumphed. Still, she could see that they were joking, or mostly joking in Mr. Hooper's case, and it dulled the remarks for her. “Ceramics. I'm good at ceramics.”

Susan squeezed her arm. “I'd love for you to show me,” she said. Penelope matched the smile and nodded.

“I want to see too!” Bob argued. Susan looked at him.

“I don't think she should invite you. You were teasing her,” Susan said. “What do you think, Hudson?”

The baby honker pushed his nose and Penelope tried hard not to laugh. Gordon had given up and was snickering even though he was in just as much trouble as Bob. Bob looked at Hudson. “Hey!”

Bob took Hudson from Susan, who didn't protest at all. As he tried to explain to Hudson why he should be on his side, Penelope felt more secure at the moment. As much as Mr. Hooper had assured her that they would defend her, she wouldn't take them up on it. It went against what she had promised to do in the first place: Help defend the Street. Still, it was a nice gesture and she appreciated the new feelings it gave her, even if she needed to hide them. She wondered how much Bob, Susan, and Gordon would have protested if she had been asked to leave. She decided that the only way to find out was to stay around and see how they reacted to her. Surveillance was what was needed. Definitely a training tool and certainly not figuring out how much they might care about her. Strictly professional.

***

Mr. Hooper was about ready to throw them all off the Street for a couple of hours, but he was too worried about the fragile acceptance that Penelope had had toward his declaration that she was welcome to do it. And he certainly couldn't throw the other three out if he tried, though he wouldn't even do that. You didn't throw out one child if you weren't willing to throw out another. The point was, the four of them were driving him up a wall.

They had found a triad for Hudson. Three male honkers who had formed a triad and who had given up on having children had flocked to the street, eager to take on the baby honker. They had easily agreed to stay on the street and had made quick friends with all four of the supposed grown-ups who had fostered the baby honker. However, the aftermath was exactly what he had expected: They were all moping around about it. He was really starting to second guess himself on picking people to help him watch the street because he'd chosen four over-grown children apparently, not to mention Willy and Mac who were often less than helpful when it came to said over-grown children.

Bob was the worst of the four, not even bothering to pretend like everything was fine. Sure, he was still humming, but it was sad and filled with sighs as he moped. Mr. Hooper was almost at the point of mentioning to Susan that she should try to get Bob to hum 'People in Your Neighborhood' which he took as a step of desperation. Unfortunately, that would have meant trying to pull Susan out of her own version of a sulk in which she was doing everything she enjoyed, but without the same enthusiasm. Like Bob, she also took to sighing around. Gordon did slightly better but was just quieter than usual. Penelope had turned her attention to spending time with Big Bird and the other kids where she was able to keep up a charade better.

Worse, Mac and Willy felt bad for the four and were absolutely coddling them while laughing at his plight in private. He'd had to stop them three times from giving the four so many sweets when they had to know that wasn't good for them. They had a hot dog cart and a produce cart, but somehow they managed to always have some sort of snack food on them. Worse, the two of them were right before. He had decided to take all of them in and now they were more than a responsibility which meant that he understood why they were all so upset even if they did get to see Hudson. There was still a sense of loss, which he knew they were going to have when this whole mess started, and yet he was certain that none of them would have changed a thing given half a chance either.

He headed out and saw Bob sitting on the stairs, ignoring Oscar for the most part who had been trying to get the four back in the grouchiest way possible. Before Mr. Hooper could make his way over, he saw Penelope head out from Big Bird's nest and sat down next to him. “You're supposed to be cheery,” she informed Bob.

Mr. Hooper had to force back the laughter he felt from the accusation in her voice, especially since she was equally sulking. Bob looked at her. “I miss Hudson.”

“I do too,” she answered. “But you're worrying Big Bird.”

“I am?” He asked. Penelope nodded. Mr. Hooper had the feeling that Big Bird wasn't the only one who was worried.

“You are. You and Susan and Gordon,” she answered.

“How come you aren't worrying him?” Bob asked suspiciously. Penelope beamed.

“Because I've been playing with him and I'm not overly cheery the rest of the time anyway,” she answered. Mr. Hooper really needed to explain to her that that the latter wasn't something she needed to be proud of. Still, he did have to admit that this was going well.

“That's not something to be proud of, Penelope,” Susan scolded from the window meaning that maybe he wouldn't have to have that talk with her after all. “And I think you're exaggerating about Big Bird.”

“Maybe,” she said, rubbing her neck. “It's hard to talk to you through the window and keep an eye on Bob.”

“We'll be right out,” Susan said. Sure enough, the two joined Penelope and Bob on the step. Gordon looked at the other three.

“We need to snap out of it,” he told them. “We're probably driving Mr. Hooper crazy.”

“And proving him right,” Penelope added as if that was the most important thing. Mr. Hooper moved back into the store, watching them from the window but no longer feeling the need to eavesdrop. He felt the other two come up behind him.

“You're not going to help them?” Willy asked, watching beside him. Mr. Hooper shook his head.

“They have it handled,” he answered. “And I can't help them with everything.”

“Why not?” Mac said. “It would be easier.”

“They have to learn to do it themselves,” he said. The other two nodded. “It's easier with Big Bird.”

“You can distract Big Bird,” Mac agreed.

“And he just usually wants a hug,” Willy answered. Mr. Hooper sighed.

“It's harder when they get older,” he agreed. Mac looked at him.

“Still sorry you adopted them?” He teased. Mr. Hooper snorted and that was enough of an answer to Mac who just grinned. Willy wasn't any better. Of course he was happy he took them in. As Big Bird headed over to where they were, he paused at the sight. This was his family. These five were his children, the two flanking him were his brothers, and the rest of the street made up the rest of his family outside of Arnold and his younger brother's family. Sure, it wasn't as smooth as it had been before and it never would be again, but he would trade his no-hassle world for this one any day. For now, he watched them heal from their sense of loss and hoped that it would be easier to keep an eye on them in the future.


End file.
